The Age of the Novel

c. 1847-1900· 43 works

Dickens to Conrad, Flaubert to Tolstoy, Melville to James - the half-century when the novel became the central literary form on three continents: the Victorian panorama, French realism, the Russian masterpieces, and the American voice.

The Age of the Novel, Ranked

According to Groblé

  1. 2Moby-Dick or, The Whale1851Herman MelvilleGrueling·Epic·654 pagesInfluence75Popularity88The Age of the NovelNovelEnglish
  2. 3Les Misérables1862Victor HugoEasy·Epic·1,231 pagesInfluence58Popularity92The Age of the NovelNovelFrench
  3. 4The Brothers Karamazov1880Fyodor DostoevskyHard·Epic·912 pagesInfluence76Popularity90The Age of the NovelNovelRussian
  4. 7Anna Karenina1877Leo TolstoyEasy·Epic·831 pagesInfluence76Popularity92The Age of the NovelNovelRussian
  5. 9David Copperfield1850Charles DickensEasy·Epic·1,024 pagesInfluence60Popularity65The Age of the NovelNovelEnglish
  6. 19Tess of the D’Urbervilles1891Thomas HardyEasy·Long·517 pagesInfluence44Popularity64The Age of the NovelNovelEnglish
  7. 25Jane Eyre1847Charlotte BrontëEasy·Short·271 pagesInfluence62Popularity98The Age of the NovelNovelEnglish
  8. 27Fathers and Sons1862Ivan TurgenevEasy·Short·228 pagesInfluence54Popularity48The Age of the NovelNovelRussian
  9. 28The Idiot1869Fyodor DostoevskyHard·Epic·732 pagesInfluence54Popularity49The Age of the NovelNovelRussian
  10. 34The Scarlet Letter1850Nathaniel HawthorneModerate·Short·238 pagesInfluence51Popularity86The Age of the NovelNovelEnglish
  11. 39Little Women1868Louisa May AlcottBreezy·Long·504 pagesInfluence5Popularity98The Age of the NovelNovelEnglish
  12. 40Oblomov1859Ivan GoncharovModerate·Long·540 pagesInfluence52Popularity42The Age of the NovelNovelRussian
  13. 44The Death of Ivan Ilych1886Leo TolstoyEasy·Short·224 pagesInfluence52Popularity48The Age of the NovelNovelRussian
  14. 45Thus Spoke Zarathustra1883Friedrich NietzscheGrueling·Medium·342 pagesInfluence85Popularity73The Age of the NovelPhilosophyGerman
  15. 47Devils1872Fyodor DostoevskyHard·Epic·704 pagesInfluence53Popularity48The Age of the NovelNovelRussian
  16. 50The Origin of Species1859Charles DarwinGrueling·Long·480 pagesInfluence84Popularity55The Age of the NovelTreatiseEnglish
  17. 57Middlemarch1872George EliotHard·Epic·810 pagesInfluence60Popularity66The Age of the NovelNovelEnglish
  18. 60War and Peace1869Leo TolstoyEasy·Epic·1,440 pagesInfluence76Popularity88The Age of the NovelHistorical FictionRussian
  19. 64The Portrait of a Lady1881Henry JamesHard·Long·560 pagesInfluence44Popularity62The Age of the NovelNovelEnglish
  20. 66The Adventures of Tom Sawyer1876Mark TwainBreezy·Short·231 pagesInfluence49Popularity89The Age of the NovelAdventureEnglish
  21. 75Dracula1897Bram StokerEasy·Long·466 pagesInfluence46Popularity94The Age of the NovelGothicEnglish
  22. 76Notes from Underground1864Fyodor DostoevskyHard·Quick·136 pagesInfluence52Popularity78The Age of the NovelNovelRussian
  23. 85Crime and Punishment1866Fyodor DostoevskyHard·Long·560 pagesInfluence77Popularity94The Age of the NovelNovelRussian
  24. 89Madame Bovary1856Gustave FlaubertEasy·Long·384 pagesInfluence78Popularity80The Age of the NovelNovelFrench
  25. 98Vanity Fair1847William Makepeace ThackerayEasy·Epic·912 pagesInfluence42Popularity64The Age of the NovelSatireEnglish
  26. 107Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea1870Jules VerneBreezy·Long·440 pagesInfluence4Popularity78The Age of the NovelScience FictionFrench
  27. 110A Tale of Two Cities1859Charles DickensEasy·Long·406 pagesInfluence59Popularity91The Age of the NovelHistorical FictionEnglish
  28. 114The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn1884Mark TwainBreezy·Medium·327 pagesInfluence50Popularity96The Age of the NovelAdventureEnglish
  29. 118Heart of Darkness1899Joseph ConradGrueling·Quick·192 pagesInfluence48Popularity83The Age of the NovelNovelEnglish
  30. 123Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass1871Lewis CarrollBreezy·Medium·357 pagesInfluence6Popularity93The Age of the NovelFable & ParableEnglish
  31. 131Around the World in Eighty Days1872Jules VerneBreezy·Short·248 pagesInfluence4Popularity75The Age of the NovelAdventureFrench
  32. 135The Picture of Dorian Gray1890Oscar WildeModerate·Short·252 pagesInfluence44Popularity96The Age of the NovelGothicEnglish
  33. 139Wuthering Heights1847Emily BrontëEasy·Medium·353 pagesInfluence61Popularity95The Age of the NovelNovelEnglish
  34. 147Treasure Island1882Robert Louis StevensonBreezy·Quick·210 pagesInfluence45Popularity82The Age of the NovelAdventureEnglish
  35. 155Lord Jim1900Joseph ConradGrueling·Long·400 pagesInfluence1Popularity42The Age of the NovelNovelEnglish
  36. 158Uncle Tom’s Cabin1852Harriet Beecher StoweBreezy·Epic·629 pagesInfluence62Popularity84The Age of the NovelNovelEnglish
  37. 159Walden or, Life in the Woods1854Henry David ThoreauEasy·Long·464 pagesInfluence50Popularity74The Age of the NovelEssayEnglish
  38. 160Journey to the Center of the Earth1864Jules VerneBreezy·Short·234 pagesInfluence3Popularity74The Age of the NovelScience FictionFrench
  39. 164Personal Memoirs1885Ulysses S. GrantBreezy·Epic·674 pagesInfluence1Popularity24The Age of the NovelBiography & MemoirEnglish
  40. 171Bleak House1853Charles DickensEasy·Epic·945 pagesInfluence60Popularity64The Age of the NovelNovelEnglish
  41. 192A Sentimental Education1869Gustave FlaubertEasy·Long·479 pagesInfluence56Popularity25The Age of the NovelNovelFrench
  42. 193The Woman in White1859Wilkie CollinsEasy·Epic·671 pagesInfluence4Popularity38The Age of the NovelNovelEnglish
  43. 197The Turn of the Screw1898Henry JamesHard·Quick·134 pagesInfluence42Popularity63The Age of the NovelGothicEnglish